Can't Think of a Title
by Violet Nekono
Summary: Numair and Daine are married and have for children. This story is about these 4 girls lives after the youngest turns 16.
1. Luke, Luke Taylor

Chapter 1: Luke, Luke Taylor  
  
'What does he want now?' Luke thought as he was walking down the hall to the count's chamber. He entered and saw the crazy old man once again leaning over a map of Tortall, throwing breadcrumbs at the cities, and laughing wickedly.   
  
'Why does Jemis hate that country so much?' Luke wondered "Yes Sir? You wanted to see me," he asked walking further into the room.   
  
Count Jemis turned around to look at his spy. " Yes, Luke, I have a job for you," Jemis told him. "I want you to go to Port Caynn in Tortall and pose as a magic student. King Jonathan's mage, Numair Samalin, is looking for an apprentice. I want you to make sure you the job. Get as much inside information as you can. When that is done, I want you to depose of Samalin, his wife Daine, and his 4 daughters, Julie, Morgana, Hope, and Danielle. Danielle is the youngest; she should be easy to kill. The next youngest is Hope, she is quite talented in her magic, but a woman none the less. Morgana appears to be a nature loving twit, and Julie, watch out for her, she is stunningly beautiful, but don't be caught off guard. I want you to leave for Tortall as soon as possible. This is a perfect opportunity. Fail me, and you will not want to come back."  
  
"Yes, Sir." Luke said, accepting the mission, before leaving to pack for his voyage.   
  
  
A week later he was walking down the dusty roads of Port Caynn. So this is Tortall he thought. What a horrible place. Everyone's happy, not thinking of the impending doom here. It makes me sick. He shook his head in disgust and headed towards the nearest inn.   
  
There he is, Luke thought as he slipped around the corner, following him. Numair stopped at an inn, and went to his room. Luke sat down at the bar. The man next to him was already having a bad day this morning.   
  
"I would like the strongest you got," he said, then turned to Luke. "My wife, she left me." The sad man said while he swung down his drink. Luke scooted his stool a bit further away from him as the bartender refilled the glass.   
  
Numair returned downstairs, sat at a table across the aisle, and ordered some fruit. He was reading a book and decided there was not enough light in the room. With a pass of his hand, the candles around him were lit.   
  
A group of 4 big, burly, men strutted into the tavern, pushing the door so hard it made a sound like thunder as it hit the wall. They appeared as if they were either thieves or bandits, looking right at the table Numair was sitting at. The biggest of the bunch, possibly the leader, walked over and slammed his fist down hard on the table, right in front of where Numair was sitting.   
  
"Is there a problem?" Numair asked, calmly looking up at the big man.   
  
"Yes," the man snarled, "One, you're sitting at our table, and" he paused to count on his fingers "uh…. Two, we hate sorcerers."  
"I'm sorry you feel that way," Numair apologized, "and I will leave when I'm done with my meal."  
  
"you'll leave now!" The man roared ripping Numair up out of his chair by his shirt collar. (Not the easiest of tasks when the man you're lifting is over 6 feet tall) Numair gave him one swift punch in the abdomen. The man dropped to his knees and cringed in pain. One of the other men advanced. He blasted one man with his gift sending him across the room, causing him to crash into a table and pass out.   
  
'No! I can't let him be killed, he is my victim!', Luke thought. "Duck!" He said to Numair. Numair crouched down, as Luke snatched the drink of the man next to him and a nearby candle. He quickly held the candle up to his face and blew out the mouthful of the motor oil like stuff. It was ghastly and he was happy to be rid of it.   
  
The flames rained on the two men who screamed with pain and fled out the door. Numair relaxed. "Thanks a lot," Numair said to Luke, but he spoke too soon.   
  
Numair had left the leader unwatched. The brute pulled a knife out of one of his shirtsleeves and lunged at Numair, cutting a big gash in his side. Luke, at the sight of cold steel, let out a blast of energy knocking out thickheaded man that attacked.   
  
Numair clutched his side and cringed. Luke surprised himself when he automatically began healing the mage. By the time another healer arrived Numair was unconscious from the loss of blood. The healer came running into the room. She looked as if she had just gotten out of bed. The laces on her dress were only half tied, and her white hair was worn loose instead of in a braid or a bun. She looked startled for a minute as if she recognized Numair. The innkeeper, Luke, and the healer carried him to his room.   
  
They removed his boots and tunic, and put him on the bed. The healer examined the wound and saw that it was merely a bad scrape, and was confused about how a man could lose the amount of blood from such a small wound. She shook her head and bent down beside the bed. Opening her bag, she pulled out a few things, and proceeded to clean the wound. After it was clean she wrapped a bandage around him to prevent infection.   
  
Numair began to wake up. He looked up at the healer and was startled. "Mistress Cooper what are you doing here," he asked in a shaky voice.   
  
"I was in an inn in a different part of the city when someone ran in hollering about something. I walked out of my room to see what all the noise was about and heard a person asking for a healer. He said a man in another inn was badly hurt and needed a healer. I told him I'd go and ran back into my room. I threw on a dress as fast as I could, grabbed my bag and followed the man here. Although I should be asking what you're doing here with Danielle's birthday the day after tomorrow."  
  
"That's one of the reasons why I'm here. I'm here to get a gift for her and to find my new apprentice. Who is that standing by the fireplace?" Numair asked.   
  
"That man saved your life Numair," Mrs. Cooper said in a matter of fact way.   
  
Numair sat up with a bit of stiffness and called Luke over to him. "I must thank you Mr.…"  
  
"Luke, Luke Taylor. And you are?"  
  
"Numair Samalin, at your service. That was a close one," Numair answered gratefully. "Maybe we can have a chat about your magical talent later; you clearly did a great feat in healing just now."  
  
"Now we will have no more talking until you get your rest," Mrs. Cooper said.   
  
"Gladly accepted sir," answered Luke. They talked a little while longer and then Mistress Cooper ordered Numair to sleep and to try to take it easy tomorrow.   
  
" Very nice" Numair remarked after Luke finished talking about his former education. "O.K. The job is yours. Get yourself a room. Drop your stuff off and meet me back down here. I have something to pick up at the market place and you can come with me."  
  
Luke paid for a room, and went upstairs to drop his stuff off. When he got back downstairs Numair was still waiting for him like he said he would.  
  
They walked out of the inn into the market place and eventually stopped in front of a jewelry store. Walking in the man behind the counter recognized Numair right away.   
  
"Ah Master Samalin," the jeweler greeted Numair smiling, "I have what you requested right here behind the counter." With that he bent behind the counter and pulled out a black velvet box that looked like it held either a necklace or a bracelet. Numair opened the box and pulled out a delicate silver chain. Hanging from the chain was an exquisite cat made of amethyst with 2 small black opals for eyes. Numair thanked the man, paid him, and they left the store.   
  
They went back to the inn and entered the common room to get some dinner. Sitting down at an empty table, a waitress came over. They ordered some soup and a glass of fruit juice each.   
  
"You're 18 right?" Numair asked when the girl had left.   
  
"Yes," Luke replied and changed the subject. He didn't want to tell the mage too much about himself. "Master Samalin, that necklace, is it for your wife?" Luke inquired.   
  
"Call me Numair," the older man said, "and the necklace is for my youngest daughter Danielle. The day after tomorrow is her 16th birthday. That's why we have to leave tomorrow morning. I promised her I wouldn't miss it."   
  
"I've heard about what your daughters are like. Wouldn't something that delicate break easily," he asked.   
  
"Yes, with any of my other 3 girls. You should get the information on them, since you will be living in Tirreagean. My oldest daughter, Julie, works for the Queen's Riders, makes weapons for them, and isn't around much anymore. Morgana's next. She's 18. She helps the Riders horse mistress Onua. She has a cat named Cole, but don't give him any table scraps, he is fat enough. Hope comes after her. She's almost 17. She's the world's youngest black robe mage, Hope drops by once and a while and might be very helpful to you. She became a black robe when she was only 14. Hope lives in a place nearby called Cliff Tower. Being right on the border of the desert, she is a member of one of the Bahzir tribes. While Danielle is learning to be a lady and a healer, she's our only daughter who has decided to stay with us at home after she turns 16. She's also the only one of all our children who enjoys going to court parties and wearing a dress every day."  
  
"I can't wait to meet them," Luke said with anticipation.   
  
"You won't find your self waiting, they will all be at Danielle's Party. Along with her godparents and other friends," the mage replied.   
  
"Your first lesson begins now. There are many kinds of magic. Many are believed to not exist, but you will have proof. All 4 girls have the gift and wild magic. Julie's strength with her gift is war magic, and she has magic involving metal and fire. Morgana's strength is with her wild magic and she has magic that allows her to control and create weather. Hope's strength with her gift is what people call show magic and she has a type of magic involving plants. Danielle's gift is best used to heal. She also has magic involving thread of all kinds. You will not be expected to master all of these techniques, but you will be expected to learn about them," Numair stopped because their food had come. They proceeded to eat in silence.   
  
While they ate Luke was thinking about what Numair had told him. This isn't going to be as easy as Jemis thought. These girls are more powerful and sound smarter than I first thought. Except Danielle. She still sounds easy to get rid of.   
  
They left very early the next day. Numair had brought two horses with him so the trip would be faster than if they went by foot. They had been riding half the day when Numair told Luke what he had forgotten to mention. " Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you... We're stopping at Pirate's Swoop for lunch. I need to talk to Alanna and George."   
Good thing I don't look like a Tusanian, I have mom's brown hair and blue-gray eyes Luke thought. Or I'd be in trouble for sure, what with that warrior woman's grudge from the wars.   
  
They arrived in Pirate's Swoop an hour and a half later. Alanna ran out to meet them giving Numair a big bear hug. Numair winced in pain. "What's wrong?" Alanna asked worried.   
  
"Nothing," he told her, "Just some out of sorts at the tavern in Port Caynn."  
  
"Who's this sturdy young man?" She asked, acknowledging Luke.   
  
"He's my apprentice," He told her and introduced them. George came out and greeted Numair. They stayed about an hour then headed west  
  
  
  
??? 


	2. Morgana

Chapter 2: Morgana  
  
A sinister-looking man poured a bottle of green-gray liquid (a color commonly known as goose-turd milk) onto a stone floor. The mixture rippled and clouded then cleared as the old fart muttered an incantation. He leaned forward and watched as the image appeared in the center of it.   
  
The head of young sleeping woman appeared in the pool, her head covered in a dark tangle of blonde curls. She muttered something in her sleep and turned onto her back. The hair swept back to reveal a shockingly beautiful face. Suddenly a large Balinese cat leaped onto her chest, waking her and magically shouting   
  
"Wake up call! Time to feed the kitty!". Morgana Samalin opened her bright blue eyes and glared at her cat with eyes the same color as his. "One of these days, I'm going to kill you, if you keep doing that", she said with an edge to her voice.   
  
The cat ignored the tone of her voice, replying as he cleaned himself; "it wakes you up, doesn't it?" Morgana ignored her smirking cat (well, he was smirking as much as possible), sat up and tried to relax.   
  
She admired her room. She was lying on her bed, which was a canopy bed with darkly stained cherry wood. Her canopy and sheets resembled dirty peacock feathers. The bed's posts reached the ceiling, which was painted to look like the summer sky, with her favorite constellations, the Goddess and the Cat in the western corner. Joining the Goddess was an oak chest painted a glossy silvery gray, containing her magic book, her letters from Darien, and all her secrets. The rest of her books were in the golden oak bookcase in the eastern side of the room that Kaddar had given her for her 14th birthday. Her oak wardrobe and oak vanity that was over on the southern side of her room was a 15th birthday present from her parents. Her bed was on the northern side, next to a small oak table.   
  
Cole chose that moment to jump on her chest again and did a little I'm-hungry-when-will-you-feed-me-oh-by-the-way-good-morning-now-get-up dance.   
  
Morgana groaned and pushed her cat, Cole, off her chest and got up. She wrapped a robe around her naked body and sat at her vanity. She fiddled around with her cream-colored hair and frowned.   
  
"Is there something going on today, Cole?", she asked her grooming cat. " Well, you've got to feed me, play with me, feed me, play with me, feed me, play with me, feed me, and go to your sister's birthday party, in that order.", Cole replied as he licked the blue-ish gray fur that bordered the cream colored fur on his body.   
  
Morgana gasped. "That's right! It's Danielle's birthday today! I have to go get Faith!", she said as she dressed hurriedly in a cream and blue-gray dress.   
  
"Who's Faith? I never heard... meow!", Cole half inquired, half yelped as Morgana grabbed him and rushed through the halls. The picture blurred and faded. 


	3. Hope

Chapter 3: Hope  
  
  
It cleared, suddenly, showing Morgana's younger sister, Hope.   
  
  
The sun rises across  
  
?the desert...   
  
The figure walked across the horizon, pieces of her hair falling from its tie creating a veil. She held a staff, nothing on it, just a stick, and it dug into the sand with her left foot, steadily. She was alone, but not worried, or lonely. She wore breaches, an emerald tunic, and a floppy blue hat.   
  
So, we meet, Hope Samalin. She looked up suddenly, as if someone called her name, then a blaze of green fire surrounded her with a whistle. It stopped, and she continued walking.   
  
Hope kicked something out from under the sand and knelt to it. Her coal black (slightly wavy) hair in its tie fell to her side so the man could not see what she picked up. She held what appeared to be a rock, about two inches long rock to the sun. She tossed it in the air, caught it and deposited it into a hidden pocket.   
  
It had been a long week, and now off home to spend some time in relaxation. It was her sister's birthday tomorrow and she had just found the perfect gift for the perfect age.   
  
"This might take a while to do, so I'd better fly." She said quietly. She started running, faster, and faster! Then she threw her staff into the ground far in front of her and it stuck into the sand. She bolted up, jumped landing one foot on the staff, and then jumped again soaring high in the sky! Hope muttered one word and the staff flew into her hand. 


	4. Juliana

Chapter 4: Juliana  
  
  
Julie gripped the red-hot piece of iron in her hand and hit it with the great sledgehammer a few more times. Almost satisfied she looked down the sword checking for correct angles on the double-edged sword. Satisfied she put it down to cool then sighed and looked around the smiths' shop.   
  
It was a normal royal smith's shop; it was dirty, hot and stuffy, which didn't bother Julie a bit. She sat down for a rest and looked at her hands. They were fine after gripping the hot iron, except for a bit of dirt. She brushed her fiery red hair out of her soft brown eyes and looked around her.   
  
Looking across the room she saw the daggers she had made for her sister, they were beautiful. Her smithing was the best in the palace. Recently she had been bogged down with work because the new recruits for the riders needed swords. The maggots would borrow them till they bought their own and returned them to the armory, but they were so good that they usually bought them form the armory.   
  
There was a rustling above the high window. Suddenly a boy about 12 fell through the window. "HELP, HELP, ROALD! ROALD! SHE IS A MADWOMAN!" He cried out, because in a wink of an eye she was on top of him, with a still steaming sword (which was having engraving done on it) at his throat.   
  
Julie bowed deeply to her prince, not moving the sword and inch. "Sorry Mrs. Samalin. I am his sponsor." He explained. Julie removed the sword from his neck and waved goodbye as they left, through the door.   
She could still hear her talking. " I do say, you better turn out to be more of a man on the trip."  
  
"Well, there was nothing I could do. They were right about her though."  
  
"If you really wanted to know, you could of just asked me to let you in the door, I am the prince you know. And if you were so curious you would have found out three weeks from now any way, she is going with us to Port Caynn." 


	5. Danielle

Chapter 5: Danielle  
  
  
  
Danielle ran the brush through her chocolate-delicious hair one last time.   
  
The scoundrel looked into the basin, which perceived the view of a mirror. What a tender little petal this one is; this should be fun.   
  
She gazed into the mirror, straight into her violet eyes. Suddenly the nasty man jumped back, she was looking at him, how spooky. He then realized that he was behind a mirror and went back to the basin.   
  
"Oh, I can't wait for my party, the big 16! I must look perfect for Father's return.", Danielle thought.   
  
Knocking rang out as Daine entered her daughter's room. "I have a surprise dear!", she said.   
  
"Oh Mother, it's beautiful!" The teen said. Her mom held out a beautiful lavender dress with a bit of lace here and there. Danielle hugged her mom.   
  
"I could never get your sisters to wear anything like this, Morgana might, but the other two I doubt. It's an early present. Now hurry put it on, I want to see you in it before your father gets back.", her mother said, crossing her arms.   
  
Daine walked into her closet and pulled the dress on she loved it; never had she had anything so beautiful, so silky and elegant! She walked back out of her closet her mother was stunned. "Now, if finish your hair, I will leave you be." She said walking out the doorway. Danielle started braiding her hair, sitting back down at her mirror. Suddenly a cat appeared in the reflection, a white cat, with purple eyes! Daine spun around, her hair coming loose. "Where did you come from?"  
  
"Watch your back, watch what you say and do, he is watching..."  
"Who?"  
  
The cat nodded to the mirror. Danielle looked into the mirror again, she saw her reflection.   
  
Suddenly the basin of water went cloudy and turned the same goose turd green. The Sorcerer growled the incantation again... nothing happened. He yelled at it... still nothing.   
  
"AAAGGGGGRRRHHH YOU (bleep)-ING PIECE OF (bleep) MERCHANDISE! I (bleep) ON YOUR MOTHER'S SHOES! YOUR GODDESS (bleep)-ED MOTHER WAS A (bleep)-ING HAMSTER AND YOUR (bleep)-ING FATHER SMELLED OF (bleep)-ING ELDERBERRIES!" He yelled as he kicked the basin across the room. The liquid flew through the air in a million little droplets. They showered across the ground, bounced once and evaporated.   
  
"There is nothing there, Cat," she said, but when she turned back around, the cat had gone.   
  
"Ma'am! Ma'am! Your father, he returns!" A servant yelled up the hall. Danielle rushed to her window, sure enough; there was her father! She hurried down the passage, outside in her bare feet with her hair trailing behind her.   
  
"Danielle!" "Daddy!", they said hugging each other. "You are more beautiful than when I left!", Numair cried as he picked her up and spun her around.   
  
'So these are the women of Samalin. Oh, she IS beautiful. Father must have a reason.', The man standing next to Numair thought, but he pushed the idea of his father back in his mind.   
  
"Danielle, this is my apprentice, Luke. Luke, this is Danielle, my daughter. " 


End file.
